还要特别提到H市知青联谊会的知青们不忘写历史的使命,百忙中,辛勤笔耕出版的两本书,2001年出版了中文版《三色土》,2014年出版了英文版《Zhiqing, Stories from China’s Special Generation>》。这两本书以生动感人的文笔,如实记录,再现了知青们当年可歌可泣的土插和洋插的人生故事。虽然我不在作者之中(如果当年我已经进了文学城,开博练了笔,可能我也会写写我当知青的故事),我为写书的知青朋友们由衷地骄傲,感谢他们用心用笔记录下中国知青的真实历史,表达了我们知青的心声。 同时这两本书也是文学底蕴深厚,文采飞扬,中英文俱佳的文学作品。。
H市知青联谊会的知青们出版的两本书
我家AE是知青的同龄人也是知青的铁粉。AE和几位知青作者是多年的老朋友,读朋友写的《Zhiqing, Stories from China’s Special Generation》倍感亲切。。书一到手, 他就迫不及待地,认真细读起来,其中几篇他反复读了几次。记得AE一边读书,一边和我讨论,有时也提问题,他常常读得感慨万分,甚至流泪!
南京知青之歌
那年的圣诞节,AE买了十几本英文版的《知青,中国特殊一代人的故事》送给他的朋友们。AE还在Amazon 写了书评,并应邀在H市《Zhiqing, Stories from China’s Special Generation>》新书发布会上,作为美国读者发了言。一位德高望重的知青作者,北大的一位美国石油博士为AE现场作了翻译。现摘录其中一段AE发言稿的中文翻译。AE说:“这些知青故事中的元素,劳动,悲哀,幽默,婚姻,死亡,使得这本书产生巨大的吸引力,叫人打开书,就无法放下。正如你走进了一本有强烈个性的回忆录,那些作者们从多年的灾难,压力和贫困中生存下来,最后竟然变成了你的邻居。所以你不能不佩服这本书中,知青这特殊一代人所体现的坚强,韧性和力量。我发现这个时期的知青故事不但非常激烈,扣人心弦,而且有时也很有趣。在我自己和我所认识同代人的早年生活中,没有一件事能比得上文革的悲剧和下放知青的遭遇…感谢你们知青和我们分享你们的故事,感谢你们为出版此书所作的努力。我自豪地说,我认识其中好几位作者,非常珍视你们的友谊。我会努力尽量多认识和了解你们中国知青,更好地理解你们和你们的故事…”, AE 发自内心的真诚发言赢得了一片掌声。知青作者们还特别赠予AE一本作者们亲笔签名的书,令AE爱不释手,深感荣幸。
Ladies and Gentlemen and especially Zhiqing – Greetings (Ni Hao),
If I had been born in China, I probably would have been a Zhiqing. I married my wife, a Zhiqing from Nanjing, China.
The book, Zhiqing - Stories from China’s Special Generation, contains a gripping set of real stories from the “educated youth” - who were sent down to the country by Mao Tse Tung to learn from the farmers how to keep China red during the Cultural Revolution. These thirteen remarkable authors relate their tales from that very difficult time – discussing the lessons that they learned, the decisions that they made and the journey that they took through their teenage and young adult years - often far from home and family.
I have a great deal of respect for the Zhiqing – because it is hard to imagine how most of them got through this ordeal and then were able to function so well. This is a special generation of people – sharpened by the well-honed knives of Mao’s Cultural Revolution.
One way that this volume stands out, is that one can determine something of who these particular Zhiqing became. They wrote of their lives during their youth, but you can see from their biographies a snapshot of what they are like forty years later. I originally read this edition because I know four of the contributors, but, I read all of it because the history was so fascinating and it just pulled me in.
The elements of these anecdotes – work, sorrow, humor, marriage, death - make this an absorbing read which I found difficult to put down. If you are drawn towards actual memoirs that are strong and personal written by folks who figured out how to survive under stress and deprivation for many years and then turned out just like the people you would want to live next door to, then you can appreciate the persistence and strength demonstrated in the narratives by this special generation.
I find the stories of the Zhiqing from this period to be very intense and interesting. In my earlier life and in the lives of the people that I grew up with (and knew) there has been no single event such as the Cultural Revolution and what happened to the sent down youth. This unusual socio-political happening has shaped many lives in a significant way. Thank you so much for sharing your stories and the effort and resources you have put forth to get this book published. I am proud to say that I do know a few of you personally and treasure your stories especially. It is only left for me to get to know the rest of you more, to better appreciate your stories.
I want to let you know that my wife and I sent more than 10 copies of this book to our friends and family. We have had positive feedback and interest. There were plans for a couple of book clubs among that group to include this book in future studies.
One thought - this team should consider more stories and how these incredible experiences affected you and what you learned and what you became. We are looking forward to future stores from you.